by Rebecca King
How long they stood there for neither knew for definite. It was only the distant sound of horses’ hooves that caught Will’s attention that forced him to put some distance between them. Horrified at the possibility he might have ruined her reputation, Will swiftly thrust her away from him and turned his back.
“God in Heaven,” he growled as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
Georgiana stared at him in horror. Tears gathered on her lashes. His abrupt dismissal had been as effective as a slap in the face. It hurt no less. She stared at his back for several moments, oblivious to the carriage proceeding slowly down the lane toward them. When it became evident he wasn’t going to turn around she left.
Well, you wanted to kiss a stranger and walk away, a small voice warned her as she stumbled over the uneven field. You only have yourself to blame that you made such a fool of yourself.
Pride demanded that she square her shoulders with military sharpness, lift her chin in defiance, and march onward no matter what happened. What had happened was that she had made the biggest mistake of her life. Her lips tingled from the rough possession of his. Her body thrummed with unsatisfied need. She now realised just how stupid she had been to kiss him in the first place.
“I don’t just have him to forget I have the kiss now as well,” she whispered.
He couldn’t have made it any more obvious that he wasn’t interested in her if he had pushed her away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand whilst screeching ‘yuck’. Still, while she walked, a part of her still listened, hoped, and even yearned, for him to call her back, but of course he didn’t. There was nothing but stoic silence behind her-for a few seconds at least.
“Georgiana.”
She was marching along the lane after the carriage when he finally caught up with her. Georgiana wanted to ignore him but stopped in spite of herself. She kept her back to him and waited. A part of her expected him to chastise her for being so wayward, or taking such liberties, or whatever. She expected some kind of set-down at least.
What she didn’t expect was for him to capture her wrist in a gentle but firm hold and tug her around until she faced him. When she eventually did find the strength to face him, this time it was she who was shocked when his arms slid around her and he hauled her against him once more. Meaningfully, he looked over the top of her head toward the carriage.
Georgiana watched the lumbering carriage disappear from sight with a sigh. She didn’t care who had seen them, or what rumours they had stirred up, but clearly Will was embarrassed to be seen with her.
Of course he is because he is engaged to be married to Penelope Smedgrove.
Shockingly, that thought still didn’t give her the strength to push him away. Neither did she prevent his lips from plundering hers once more. When she would have pulled away, one large hand cupped the back of her head and held her steady while he seared her with one extremely possessive kiss that left her shaken and weak at the knees.
Suddenly, Will stepped back again. Without explanation, he simply pushed her away from him as though he had been scalded, and stared down at her with a dark frown that was full of annoyance. Whether that annoyance was directed at him or herself she couldn’t say. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but the answer was there, written in his eyes. He bitterly regretted what they had just shared - twice.
“I won’t apologise,” she said harshly.
“I didn’t ask you to,” Will snapped. He hated himself for being so harsh with her but she had tested him to his limits. If he kissed her again he was likely to ruin her completely, and then all Hell would break loose with both her parents and his. “I am getting married.”
“I know,” Georgiana whispered.
She stared at him for a few moments longer, silently pleading with him to do something, or say something that would ease the awful tension shimmering between them. With each moment that ticked by, her hopes faded. Here she was, waiting, hoping, praying, that he would declare his affection for her. In spite of everything a small part of her still yearned for him to declare his love for her and assure her that it was her he wanted to marry and not Penelope Smedgrove. But of course, he didn’t. She realised that the precious moment they had just shared was gone now, and would never be repeated. In its wake was a pain that was unbearable.
He doesn’t love you, though, does he? It was obvious that he didn’t.
“I need to go home,” she whispered.
This time, when she left she ran toward the home. This time, he didn’t bother to call her back or follow her. Instead, he watched her, and kept a steady pace behind her until she reached the safety of her parent’s house.
Now that she was no longer a temptation, Will was free to contemplate what had just happened–and the answers he found didn’t bring him one ounce of comfort at all.
Georgiana closed the front door behind her as quietly as possible. Her mother was chattering away with someone in the sitting room. She took a moment to try to identify the visitor but the voice was too muffled. Thankful that her mother was occupied for the time being she turned toward the study. Without bothering to knock on the door, she quietly let herself in and closed the door behind her.
“You are going to get a scolding for going out for as long as you have,” he father warned without looking up from his papers.
“I don’t care,” Georgiana replied wearily. “I am no longer a child.”
When her tone of voice registered on her father, he finally looked up and stared hard at what he saw.
“What the devil has happened to you?” he demanded. Uncharacteristically of him, he stood and rounded his desk only to slam to a halt when his daughter immediately began to back away. “What’s happened? Who did this to you?”
Georgiana forced herself to ignore her shame. The last thing she was going to do was tell him that it was Will who had run his hands through her wet hair, which was wet because she had been skinny dipping. Instead, she tackled the most difficult issue she had ever had to discuss with her father, mainly because her conscience wouldn’t allow her to do anything else.
“I am going to live somewhere else. I leave first thing in the morning,” she declared quietly.
George sighed and resumed his seat. “I don’t give you permission to go anywhere.”
“You don’t need to,” Georgiana warned. “I am not only financially able to live somewhere else, but I am also of an age where I can make my own decisions.”
“You are one and twenty, Georgiana,” George said with an air of dismissal.
“Yes, an age where most women are married already,” she protested.
“Yes, but you are not married,” George countered.
“So I am old enough to marry, but not old enough to make decisions for myself?”
“I shall not have you challenging my authority in this way,” George declared loudly.
“I am not challenging your authority. I am merely stating fact.”
“You are being truculent and insubordinate and I won’t stand for it in this house.”
Georgiana studied him. “No, I don’t suppose you will.”
She knew then that he would never agree to her going to live with her Aunt Ruth, or anywhere else for that matter. It would be far too wayward and take her far out of his, or Cecily’s control.
“I don’t need your permission anymore,” she said quietly.
“You will not challenge my authority whilst you live in this house,” George repeated coldly.
Before Georgiana was given the chance to reply, the door was suddenly thrust open and a distressed looking Cecily stormed into the room.
“I heard your voice,” Cecily snapped at her daughter.
Georgiana sighed and glared contemptuously as the pious looking woman who had entered the room behind Cecily. The snide glare the woman gave her was full of venom, and left Georgiana in little doubt that she had been stirring up trouble.
“Have you heard what Mrs Atterton has seen this very afternoon, G
eorge?” Cecily demanded.
“Of course not,” George snapped.
“Today, Mrs Atterton has had the shock of her life. Do you know what she saw? Do you? Do you?” Cecily pointed a trembling hand at her daughter. “She saw–”
Cecily broke off and began to fan herself as she flopped dramatically into the chair beside her. She held her hand aloft as though she expected her someone to take it and pat it sympathetically, then waved her handkerchief in front of her face to cool her heated cheeks. Suddenly, she popped upright in her chair and levelled an accusatory glare on Georgiana that could have felled an oak tree.
Unimpressed by the dramatic outburst, Georgiana lifted one querulous brow at Cecily.
“What major scandal have I caused now?” she asked in bored tones.
“Georgiana,” her father warned.
Georgiana glared at him, unsurprised that she would receive no support from him–she never had. He always buckled beneath Cecily’s domineering and overly dramatic displays.
“I can tell you what I saw,” Mrs Atterton declared pompously when Cecily began to fan herself again. “I saw that harlot kissing a man in broad daylight. That’s what I saw.”
Georgiana suddenly found herself the object of three people’s scornful condemnation and tried not to squirm under the force of their derision. She wouldn’t admit to any of them that it was Will because that would only add to their disgust with her. It would also ruin his forthcoming marriage and she couldn’t do that no matter how much she loved him. After all, she had been the one to instigate the kiss.
“I have no idea what she is talking about,” Georgiana lied coldly. “She is lying. It wasn’t me.”
“Oh, don’t you dare lie, you hussy,” Mrs Atterton snapped.
“I am not lying,” Georgiana cried. “How dare you come into this house and accuse me of things like that you old crone?”
“Georgiana!” Her father cried, but both women ignored him.
“So why are you looking like you have been dragged through a hedge in the middle of the afternoon? Why, your hair is all wet. We all know what you look like you have been doing,” Mrs Atterton declared with a sneer.
“How dare you?” Georgiana cried.
“Georgiana,” George snapped.
Incensed, Georgiana was having none of it, and rounded on her father. “What? So it is alright for that liar to enter my home and accuse me of all sorts of things she thinks she saw just because she is a trouble-making gossip?”
“I demand that you stay respectful to our guest,” George said sternly.
“Oh, but it is alright for her be disrespectful to me, and cast aspersions on my character without one shred of proof?” Georgiana demanded. “Why don’t you demand respect from her? This is our home!”
“Georgiana!” Cecily wailed. “Oh, the wayward child,” she cried, her hand pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in dramatic disbelief.
“Go to your room,” George demanded.
“I am not five anymore,” Georgiana snapped. “You cannot just scold me for being honest and send me to my room because she gets offended by trying to ruin me.”
Georgiana watched her father suddenly slump into his chair. He stared at her as her point struck home. For once he was at a loss to know what to say. She suspected it was because she was right. Still, he refused to defend her, and merely sat there while Cecily wailed and moaned about how beleaguered she was to have an undisciplined child.
“Are you not going to defend me?” Georgiana whispered.
From the disgust in her father’s eyes she knew that he wasn’t. Something inside of her broke free, and she looked upon him with something akin to sadness. In that moment she lost something–and she suspected it was respect for her sire.
“Well, I am glad that the opinions of others matters more than mine,” she said calmly.
While she spoke she was vaguely aware that someone else entered the room, but was too busy glaring at her father to pay attention. When she did finally glance over her shoulder, her breath hitched in her throat when she saw Will.
“Will,” she breathed.
“Have you heard such a thing?” Mrs Atterton declared loudly. “You should curtsey when in the company of gentry you heathen. Why, have you no manners at all?”
A deathly silence settled over the room. Georgiana’s gaze turned from her father to Will. Silently she pleaded with him to do something to defend her honour. From the cold mask of aloofness on his face, she realised he wasn’t going to help her either. He was a veritable stranger to her now. If she hadn’t been there in person, she might have believed that this afternoon was a figment of her imagination, but she hadn’t dreamt about spending several minutes wrapped firmly in his loving arms only a short while ago.
“It is Lord Traversim to you,” Mrs Atterton snapped as she curtseyed politely, and stared at Georgiana meaningfully.
Defiantly, Georgiana didn’t bother to follow Mrs Atterton’s orders. Why should she? Mrs Atterton was determined to ruin her reputation no matter what Georgiana did, and would succeed given all the support she was getting from Georgiana’s nearest and dearest.
“Oh, such a burden,” Cecily wailed.
“Oh, do shut up, Cecily,” Georgiana snapped.
“Why, you gutter-snipe. How dare you speak to your poor, beleaguered mother in such a way?” Mrs Atterton declared pompously.
Georgiana glared at her but sensed she was losing the battle because she was fighting this particular war alone. She ignored Will, and slowly shook her head at the elderly woman who was glaring at her with condemnatory scorn.
“I hope the next time you are in church the vicar reminds you that it is your Christian duty not to cast aspersions upon others; that you should treat others how you should wish to be treated. It seems to me that you should be the one to apply better manners rather than invade someone’s home with your scandalmongering,” she declared coldly.
“Georgiana that is enough!” George demanded loudly. He launched out of his chair and slammed his fist down on the table, making even Mrs Atterton take a wary step backward.
“Yes, it is. Quiet enough,” Georgiana declared firmly, and slammed out of the room. The resounding bang of the door closing behind her was rewarding, but not nearly as much as it needed to be to ease her fury.
Once inside her room she eyed the bag she had packed earlier and began to pace.
“Is there a problem?” Will asked. He quirked one aristocratic brow at the old woman whose gossipy traits were legendary amongst the villagers and waited.
Cecily, temporarily revived by Mrs Atterton’s dedicated flapping, informed him of the latest round of gossip surrounding her awfully unmanageable daughter.
Will’s temper burned, the flames of which were fanned by Mrs Atterton, whose glee was clear in her eyes as she embellished the shocking scene she had witnessed that very afternoon.
“Are you certain it was Georgiana?” Will demanded briskly.
“Well, there are not many blonde haired girls in the village are there?” Mrs Atterton blustered.
“Yes, but did you see her face?” Will snapped.
“Well, no, of course not,” Mrs Atterton replied. “She was behaving scandalously at the time–with a man, nonetheless.”
“If you didn’t see her face, how can you be certain it was Georgiana?” Will demanded harshly. He had no qualms about letting the woman see how angered he was by her claims and hardened his gaze when she frowned. “It is incumbent upon me to warn you to be careful what insinuations you make about other people’s characters, Mrs Atterton. You are apt to cause many people a lot of offense. I am sure you are aware that once a person’s reputation is damaged, it can rarely be repaired. Why, spreading unworthy gossip about an innocent person can be just as damaging as any scene you happened to stumble upon. I suggest you think carefully about what you claim you saw this afternoon and, unless you can attest upon a Court of Law that you saw her face, be cautious about what scandal you spread.�
� Will was aware of Cecily and George’s astonished looks, but his position within the family meant that neither of them was prepared to challenge him. “Georgiana is right. You really are in no position to cast aspersions upon anybody, especially standing in somebody’s home as you are. Manners are required, even of you.”
When the old lady opened her mouth to speak, Will stalked to the door and yanked it open.
“Good day to you,” he said coldly.
Mrs Atterton looked from George to Cecily, silently seeking support but neither said a word. With a huff, she gathered her shawl about her and stalked out of the house with her nose in the air.
Will closed the study door and sighed deeply.
“Well, I never-” Cecily began only to fall silent when Will threw her a hard glare. He was in no mood to listen to any more of her wailing protests of innocence. He realised then just how many problems Cecily caused.
“You two should consider the fact that Georgiana is no longer a child. She is a young woman now,” he began.
“She is just a child,” Cecily snorted.
Will glared at her. “You are going to lose her if you carry on the way you are.”
“Oh, but Georgiana is nothing but wayward,” Cecily protested dismissively.
“In your eyes, yes, but she is old enough to marry,” Will snapped dismissively. “What are you going to do if she announces that she wants to marry someone? Do you intend to try to control her married life as well?”
George sat bolt upright in his chair. “Has someone offered for her?” He scowled. “Nobody has asked me for her hand yet.”
Will sighed. “Not yet, but it cannot be long can it? She is young, beautiful, but also an adult. Women like Georgiana don’t stay single all of their lives.”
That brought him a deep sense of disquiet that refused to leave again, and he tucked it firmly away to consider later. Right now, he turned his anger on Cecily, and watched her cheeks turn florid beneath his hard glare. He didn’t give her a moment to protest her innocence, though, mainly because she was guilty and the cause of Georgiana’s current upset.
